Pages

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Readiness & Fruitfulness

This is from the blog Words from the Crucible:And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf,He went to see if He could find anything on it.When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves,for it was not the season for figs. And He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”And his disciples heard it.…As they passed by in the morning,they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.(Mark 11:13-14, 20)The season of the world does not determine the fruit of the Spirit.True fruit borne unto God is that which HIS call and HIS Life at work within us produces. The working out of our salvation with fear and trembling is the yielding to HE who works within us to will and to do according to HIS good pleasure. The fruit which God recognizes and is pleased to savor is the fruit of HIS Spirit. It is in view of His abundant mercy that we offer ourselves living sacrifices upon the altar of our death, that HIS Life might be manifested in us, who by faith and patience inherit the promise of the word of Life which renews our mind and restores our soul day by day.Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season…(Psalm 1:1-3)The Living God is not interested in what human metrics or men’s traditions regard as fruitful or useful; but rather the hidden man of the heart, which bursts forth in springs of Living Water from beyond what that vessel itself could ever provide. Our ability to bear fruit depends not upon busying ourselves with what men commonly perceive as “spiritual oriented activities;” but depends upon the readiness of a heart that is single towards God and His manifold purposes.

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:preach the word; be READY in season and out of season…(2 Timothy 4:1-2)

The fig tree which Jesus cursed was required by Him to be ready even out of season in order for it to bear fruit in HIS season. The seasons of the Lord’s trees are determined by the calling of the Lord Himself. They do not conform to the patterns of this world’s seasons; for they wait upon the Shepherds voice alone, being driven by the wind of His Spirit, which “blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (Jn 3:8) Trees that only bear fruit in accordance to the wisdom of this age are not bearing God’s fruit. True Life begins in and is sustained by the Word of Life. True fruit is borne only by the means of the Fruit Bearer Himself, whose kingdom is not of this world but is rather found within those in whom His Spirit finds a conduit to flow.

As men go to and fro throughout the earth, looking to bolster “my ministry,” “my calling,” “my inheritance”… meanwhile, the eyes of the LORD go to and fro throughout the whole earth looking to strengthen the heart that is pure before HIM, so that HE might minister through those to whom He has first ministered.

“…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him, the eyes of your mind having been enlightened, for you to know what is the hope of HIS calling, and what the riches of the glory of HIS inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of HIS power toward us, the ones believing according to the working of HIS mighty strength…”(Ephesians 1:17-19)

The key to fruitfulness in season is readiness both in and out of season; and what we are ready for is determined by what our hearts are set to meditate upon. “Readiness” is the descriptor of the gospel of peace being manifest in our footsteps (Eph 6:15) – therefore our peace with God in His gospel must be our innermost meditation should our steps become truly stable and ready to bear His fruit in season. We do not wait for the Lord, for He is here! But now that He is indeed come to us, we wait upon Him, even as one waits the table of a king who loves them. We as a royal priesthood minister unto Him as He ministers unto us; for a sweet savor before His throne is the object of true ministry. To wait upon the Lord is most simply to be in constant communion with Him – this is why those who wait upon the Lord are renewed in strength. It is by abiding faith in His power that we as the branches of His vine bear fruit.

Translate

All scripture is given by inspiration of God

Multitudes in the Valley of Decision

Intercession

"All your circumstances are in the hand of God, therefore never think it strange concerning the circumstances you are in. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to enter into the agony of intercession, but to utilize the common-sense circumstances God puts you in, and the common-sense people He puts you amongst by His providence, to bring them before God's throne and give the Spirit in you a chance to intercede for them. In this way God is going to sweep the whole world with His saints."

Popular Posts Last 30 Days

Blog Archive

Echoes of Sodom and Gomorrah

"When we violate the laws of God, the moral philosophy of a whole generation becomes such that people can flaunt their evil and have it wind up being celebrated on the front page of our newspapers--then God will withhold His hand no longer!"

High Plains Visitors

High Plains Drifter Worldview

Soldiers of Christ

"Though swordless, these soldiers of Christ fought the might of imperial Rome and won . . .Unlettered they unblushingly declared the whole counsel of God and eventually staggered the intellectual Greeks."

Forgiveness without Repentance

“The chief danger of the 20th Century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and Heaven without Hell.”

The Cross is a Symbol of Rejection

"Any movement toward Christ is ascent, and any direction away from Him is down. Yet though we recognize the honor bestowed upon us, there is no place for pride, for the follower of Christ must shoulder his cross and a cross is an object of shame and a symbol of rejection."

--A.W. Tozer

The Lord Will Come With Fire

The image at the top of the page is a painting at the Great Plains Art Museum, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Isaiah 66: 15-16: "For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many."